This story originally appeared on WRDW/WAGT News on August 6, 2021.

This is a special time of year in the river region. Wood storks have showed up for their yearly visit at the Silver Bluff Audubon Center and Sanctuary along with many other birds that call this place home.

The sanctuary is home to 3,400 acres of protected habitat along the Savannah River dedicated to promoting our bird populations. There are six miles of hiking and biking trails to explore and see over 200 bird species. It is also home to the bluff that Silver Bluff was named after.

“If you stand on top of the bluff and you look down, you’ll see mica shining in the soil, all of the soil has these little flakes of sparkle and the early people that came through here thought it was silver, so they named it Silver Bluff, it’s actually mica,” added sanctuary manager Brandon Heitkamp.

A new bird blind was recently installed at the wood stork pond making it a perfect spot to take pictures and watch hundreds of wading birds.

Heitkamp says, “Coming off the side of the levy you have a nice platform and 30 feet of ADA ramp to get you down on the water and at the end is a camo bird blind.”

The sanctuary will be holding a Storks and Coffee fundraising event this Saturday featuring bird friendly coffee and guest speakers. Heitkamp added, “and discuss the Wood Stork Project and how it came to be way back in the ‘80s, how the endangered species is now threatened species thanks to a lot of projects and work that we have done”. Fundraisers like these play a big role in funding the Silver Bluff Audubon Center and Sanctuary throughout the year.